Freedom of Information Act

The Texas trooper who arrested Sandra Bland after a confrontation that began with a traffic stop was once cautioned about "unprofessional conduct" in a 2014 incident while he was still a probationary trooper, according to his personnel file. Bland, a 28-year-old Chicago-area woman, was found dead in her Waller County jail cell in Hempstead, about 200 miles south of Dallas, on July 13, three days after her arrest. Officials say she used a plastic bag to hang herself, a finding her family has questioned. Bland's family and others also have criticized Trooper Brian Encinia, who stopped Bland for failing to signal a lane change. The Associated Press obtained...

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Tucked quietly into the massive state budget-implementation bill approved in a June 29 special legislative was an intriguing provision that removed 32 highly paid jobs at state executive-branch agencies — including communications directors and legislative...

After last year's debacle involving the Hartford-based Jumoke Academy charter school operation, many legislators arrived at the Capitol this year on a mission to improve the control and regulation of charter schools. A new law, passed with overwhelming...

It's common for homeowners to have run-ins with neighbors. The people next door may have a dog that barks all night, mow their lawn at 6 a.m., or build an unsightly addition that violates regulations. If the neighbors don't listen, the homeowner can...

The University of Connecticut is a public university, though you wouldn't always know it from the way school officials do business.
In the spring there was a battle over the secrecy-loving UConn Foundation, and whether it should be subject to the state's...

The state's police chiefs are backing a much-debated bill at the state Capitol that calls for additional training in the use of excessive force and body cameras.
But some local police and their unions have raised questions about the bill.
...

HARTFORD — The State Elections Enforcement Commission decided Thursday to take legal action against the state Democratic Party over its refusal to comply with a May 29 subpoena for documents and internal communications concerning the 2014 re-election...

A month before last November's election, the state Democratic Party requested a legal opinion from the Federal Election Commission to try to justify its plan to use money from its federal campaign account to pay for mass mailings plastered with Gov....

MANCHESTER — No decision has been made on the use of police body cameras, but the department has started installing patrol car video recorders that can store and transmit images from officer-worn cameras.
The "dash cams" that the department has...

The day before the General Assembly's session adjourned, lawmakers voted in overwhelming numbers to make it clear that charter schools and their management companies are subject to the state's Freedom of Information Act — just like traditional public...

MILFORD (AP) — The insurance carrier for a Connecticut city paid $30,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a third-grader who was barred from school for several days because of Ebola fears.
School officials in Milford initially told 7-year-old...

There were, happily, other bills that advanced the cause of good government and an open society this year — and a few disappointments as well. A partial roundup:
The Good
Charter schools. Cheers to the House and Senate for approving legislation...

The state comptroller's new effort to curb the skyrocketing costs of controversial "compounded medicine" prescriptions has prompted a labor-management dispute with state employee unions that is headed for binding arbitration on Sept. 23.
...

HARTFORD — The Senate gave final legislative approval early Wednesday to a bill that restores much of the access to police arrest records that the public lost last year because of a state Supreme Court ruling.The bill was approved unanimously without...

Linda Yelmini's high-profile appeal of her firing as the state's labor-relations chief is like a championship boxing match.For one thing, she's long been called pugnacious as a negotiator with, and terminator of, state employees.For another, we have now...

HARTFORD — The House of Representatives on Friday unanimously approved a bill that restores much of the access to arrest records that the public lost last year because of a state Supreme Court ruling.The bill now goes to the Senate for...

HARTFORD — When the Council on Disability Services accepted an invitation from Gov. Dannel P. Malloy for a private meeting in his office, the public advisory panel might have violated the state's freedom of information law.The May 13 meeting with council...

HARTFORD — The Senate voted narrowly late Wednesday to start the process of authorizing a third casino in Connecticut, although proceeding on a cautious path that would buy the state more time to sort out complicated legal issues.
The Senate passed the...

HARTFORD — The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on a revised bill that would delay the pace of building a new tribal casino and also require a second approval vote that could be pushed into next year.
Senate leaders expect the bipartisan bill to pass...

WASHINGTON – A rash of cases involving police violence against young black men — most recently including the death of a Baltimore man in police custody — has bolstered the case for body-worn police video cameras both in Connecticut and Washington.
...

HARTFORD — State police must make available to the public personal documents seized from Adam Lanza's house during the course of the investigation into the 2012 killings of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the state's Freedom...